Secretary of State Powell praises Sharon

Powell told Congress that Sharon is not inclined to reopen negotiations with the Palestinians until violence stops.

"Mr. Sharon has to constantly remind himself that the reason he is prime minister is because of the violence," Powell said, and that Israeli voters who elected him in February felt that perhaps "too much was offered" by his predecessor, Ehud Barak.

Testifying to a House appropriations subcommittee on the Bush administration's request for $15.2 billion for foreign spending, Powell said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat "is anxious to get the peace process started again."

Asked if Arafat can stop Palestinian attacks, Powell said "it's a $64 question." Arafat has "considerable authority" over those who attack Israelis and yet "he does not have control over every rock thrower," Powell said.

"We have been urging him to speak out," he said.

Powell said he is in frequent touch with both leaders and that when the violence subsides, peace-making diplomacy can pick up speed.

In the meantime, he said, U.S. diplomats are shuttling between Israel and the Palestinians promoting "confidence-building measures" and the United States is hosting talks with the two sides on security problems.

Powell angrily denounced the brutal murders of two teen-age Jewish boys in the Judean desert as "an outrageous act against humanity."

One of the boys, Kobi Mandell, was a U.S. citizen from Silver Spring, Md.

Powell did not say whether the Bush administration had any information about the assailants. In Israel, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the killers would be tracked down.

"The president joins in the condemnation of the brutal killings that took place, of the teen-agers in Israel," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

Taking the occasion to implicitly criticize Israel, as well, Fleischer said "it's another reminder of how the violence has gone too far on all sides."

Powell also coupled his denunciation of the murders of the Israeli boys with an expression of sympathy for both Israelis and Palestinians "caught in the cross fire" of violence.

And, he said, he had "cautioned and pleaded" with both sides not to respond to every provocation and not to overreact.

On other subjects, Powell said:

 Spending on foreign programs was a wise investment. "We are not an island anymore," he said in a thrust at isolationists.

 The Bush administration is committed to fighting AIDs and other infectious diseases. "Nations will collapse if we don't fix these problems."

 He will make a trip to Africa later this month.

 That Russia is a great nation "trying to find the right path to the future and we've got to help them."

 There should be no doubt the Bush administration will be pressing China on human rights.